Some of many beautiful and creative illustrations that Tolkien drew for his Christmas letters to his children.

The more I read C.S. Lewis the more my jaw drops in awe that someone can think and write the way He did. What a gift from God! He points me to the far-off country in ways few other thinkers do.

I recently started keeping a log of the books I finish. I can’t wait to look back years from now and see what I was reading and what I was going through in life during that season. I want to fill this notebook and one day pass it on to my kids.

Just finished this great biography on Lewis. It was not just insightful about his life, but beautifully written with depth about Lewis' own works. Highly recommend! 📚 amzn.to/3M5ijVn

I'm preaching a sermon at my Grandpa's funeral tomorrow and I am ending it with a line from The Last Battle that I find most fitting (Lewis was one of his favorite authors):

Put up the tree today, as well as some necessary Middle-earth Christmas vibes.

Uh. This is a deal. 🚨 My favorite LOTR set. Illustrated by Alan Lee. I paid $130. It’s $78 now 📚 amzn.to/4pCTcI2

Eruhantalë 🍁(Quenya) This was the last of the three prayers spoken by the King or Queen of Númenor at the end of autumn as a ceremony of thanksgiving to the God of Arda. It means: Thanksgiving to Eru. (Art by David Greset)

I love getting packages from ThriftBooks. More Arthur to enjoy - now with an Inkling's flavor!

Uh. This is a deal. 🚨 My favorite LOTR set. Illustrated by Alan Lee. I paid $130. It’s $78 now 📚 amzn.to/4pCTcI2

The LOTR Thanksgiving Day Parade float from 1978. They don't make them like they use to...

I wrote a brief article on 3 reasons why BOOKS are better GIFTS than cheap toys and screens.

Instead of spending money on toys that will break, consider buying your kids good books that will light up their imaginations!

A poem I wrote on the pattern of death and life buried in the coldness of winter:

I received this beautiful edition of Tolkien's "Father Christmas" letters with replicas of what he wrote and drew.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” - Tolkien

This is a line that explains the destructive philosophy of our materialistic and modern age: “He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment.” - Treebeard about Saruman

Heaven invading earth: a good pipe, a delightful book, blue skies, birds chirping and the crisp air of fall. Glory!

Professor Tolkien and his then three year old son Christopher (1928). Little did the Professor know that his son would spend 45 years of his life working in the world that he would create called Middle-earth!

Some of my favorite pieces from the Hildebrandt brothers:

I asked the kids what they wanted me to read to them for bedtime, and they said George MacDonald. This is winning folks.

George MacDonald on art and stories: "It is there not so much to convey a meaning as to wake a meaning. If it does not even wake an interest, throw it aside."

My wife's Grandpa passed away this week. As we spent time at the house with the family, I got to look through his books and take some home. It’s true: you can tell a lot about a person from their books.

This just came out yesterday. It looks like a sequel to his previous book on Tolkien, Lewis and the Great War. Anyone read the first book and have thoughts? I am not familiar with Loconte's writing.

Read some of the story of the Holy Grail in Roger Lancelyn Green’s Arthurian book, but it was shortened — so I found this, over 250 pages on the quest. This might be the start of a deep dive into Arthurian legends, and I’m not even mad.

Love this perspective of Rivendell, drawn by Tolkien himself.

So excited to read through these. The left is the most comprehensive collection of Lewis' essays (130) and the right is on the story of Lewis creating and broadcasting Mere Christianity on BBC during WW2.

These men have created new categories of thinking in my mind. Their writing has felt at once like a balm to my soul and a beckoning to wild adventures. It has reminded me of home and yet had the strange scent of a far off country that I long for. I thank God for them.

"In the pursuit of growing up as proper adults, we have left behind a certain way of seeing the world and have moved on from the embarrassing love of the imaginary, unseen and the fantastical." New essay on childlike wonder and cynicism.

Just found out about this novel 👀 "In 1940s Oxford, two American researchers join forces with the Inklings to track down the legendary Spear of Destiny. Their investigation into Arthurian history turns into a high-stakes chase across England."

A rough sketch of a unique view of Bag End by Tolkien.

Loving this Arthurian telling by Roger Lancelyn Green, an Inkling with the likes of Lewis and Tolkien. The narrative flow is helpful and it rings with enchantment.

Give me your best Arthurian books / stories? What authors, editions, etc. I am looking for a source that has all the foundational stories and is filled with enchantment…

C.S. Lewis warns us of our chronological snobbery: "the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited." Our society is guilty of this.

Some thoughts I wrote on a famous line from Tolkien...

I'm curious; in your own opinion, why do you think people are so fascinated with learning about Tolkien as a person and studying his works so deeply?

The world is enchanted and filled with meaning - and few people have helped me see this in a deeper way than @malcolmguite.bsky.social ! This was one of my favorite conversations; filled with thoughts on Tolkien, Lewis and this wild life. Enjoy!

They don't make things like they used to.

Just started really digging around in these Reader's Guides and OH MY - what a treasure trove of information, quoted letters, references from lectures, books. Not sure if there is anything as comprehensive as this. Brilliant for any #Tolkien nerd!

"Then slept Eriol, and through his dreams there came a music thinner and more pure than any he heard before, and it was full of longing... but as I listened I wished to follow I know not whom, I know not wither, out into the magic of the world beneath the stars." - Tolkien

If you have never heard it before, here is a glorious 8 minutes of Tolkien reading from The Ride of the Rohirrim!

A short essay I wrote on the shape and curse of cynicism. It sucks joy, shatters belief and wrecks wonder - and it affects us all.

Tolkien is wild for this! In the preface of the second edition of FotR he wrote: "Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works..."

Writing a new piece on the curse of cynicism and how we can be cured of it. As I was writing, it struck me, cynicism can be seen as the “slow theft of joy” — it robs us silently of all wonder, light and belief until we are ruinously turned inwards upon ourselves.

Just a reminder, this account is about: - Tolkien, Lewis and other mythic writers - Wonder, enchantment and hope - Poetry, good stories and beautiful art - Goodness, truth and beauty in all things Thanks for following along friends!

"the pursuit of beauty is the way to find it..."

Less Netflix and more of this...

Yes, I am the kind of person that listens to the LOTR soundtrack in the background as I work (and as I clean the house, smoke a pipe, drive in the car, play a board game, etc.)

Tolkien is the G.O.A.T.

The Snake-Crusher. The Dragon-Slayer. The Chaos-Redeemer. The Storm-Silencer. The Sacrificial Lamb. The God-man! This is why Tolkien called the Gospel the True Myth — a story more wondrous than legend, and yet as real as the dirt beneath our feet.